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MSX/R
MSX/R has been the performance car division of MSX since 1988. The company was founded as a partnership between Richard Gibson Racing and MSX Automotive International to produce Group A touring and rally car homologation specials for international and domestic motorsport. RGR sold their 51% of MSX/R, their factories and various international racing licences to Tripe M in 1998, with MSX agreeing to continue to support MSX/R under the new owners. History In 1985 MSX extended their minor sponsorship deal with Richard Gibson Racing to a full factory funded team, which saw RGR become the MSX Racing Team. They competed as MRT in the Sketchup World Touring Car Championship in a pair of ST7 Taipan RSes with some success, winning the two Australian rounds in their first year, but lacked car speed. In 1986, MSX asked MRT what they needed to win a drivers' and teams championship, and MRT said they needed a car that was designed specifically for Group A. MSX and RGR discussed possible ways of producing race winning cars and in 1987 a plan to produce a new homologation special with competely new suspension and a overhauled 5.0L version of the Kosciuszko V8 engine. The original deal made in 1987 involved RGR owning 51% of MSX/R and competing as MSX/R with sponsorship from MSX, MAI would own the MSX/R name and the other 49% of the MSX/R car company and oversee engineering work for the first 3 years at which point MSX/R would develop the road cars themselves. The first MSX/R car was the 1988 GT5 RS Group A. Based on the GS25, it introduced the 1989 GS30's all new independent rear suspension setup, as well as a smaller 4975cc engine that allowed the weigh to be reduced from the the ST7 Taipan RS's 1400kgs to 1325kgs. The IRS and 75kg weight loss made the newly renamed MSX/R much more competitive, scoring a second in the SWTCC drivers championship and winning the team's championship as well as the Australian and New Zealand STCC championships. Despite an even faster GS30 GT5 RS Group A for 1990, MSX/R never won an SWTCC driver's championship in the Group A era, that woud come in the first year of the 2.0L Super Touring formula in 1993, where the six cylinder RWD GT5 coupes were highly competitive with better weight distribution and an engine that revved more effortlessly than their four cylinder rivals. MSX/R faced internal competion from the MSX American Dealer Team running their own FWD GT5s with the same inline 6 engine. The MADT was far from competitive though, with an underfunded team and an underdeveloped car. The operation of MSX/R's road and race divisions has sperated in recent years, with homologation specials no longer needed. MSX/R has since broadended their model range beyond the traditonal GT5 tourng car and ST2 rally homogation cars and ST7 RS. When coupes were banned from the SWTCC, an ST6 GTS was introduced to draw a link between the ST6 road and racing cars, and a ST2, ST7 and ST8 GTS followed. In 1997 they produced a 30th Anneversary ST7 GTX. The ST7 GTX returned permanently in 2002 for the 35th Anneversary model, known simply as MSX/R GTX. Current Activities Since RGR's share was sold to Triple M, MSX/R has expanded into GT3 and DTM racing and discontinued the involvement in rallying. MSX agreed to work with the new owners, continuing racing sponsorship and allowing them to compete as MSX/R, a name owned by MSX. The pair have worked together to produce some of the best road cars they have produced and In 2013, the first standalone MSX/R, the Tigersnake was released. The current MSX/R range includes: *ST2 GTS, GTSR *ST3 GTS *ST6 GTS *Taipan *ST8 GTS *XT6 Atacama ATS *XT8 Supersports *Tigersnake